Contrasts to the Preferred Makes Things Stand Out

 I've talked about how this is a spectrum, with many people mixing some scarcity orientation with some abundance orientation. But even at the extremes, people with abundance or scarcity specializations are not entirely oblivious to the other dynamic when it affects their lives. Fundamental orientations make it possible for us to pick up faint signs of abundance or scarcity against a confused background. But when scarcity or abundance stands out front and center in our paths, anyone will notice it without the need for any special sensitivity.

Jorge Láscar from Australia, CC BY 2.0

Someone on the lookout for pit traps will be more likely to notice one that is still camouflaged. But once one has fallen in, one will notice the pit trap. You don't have to have a pre-existing obsession with pit traps to be very focused on the pit trap you have just fallen into. In fact, someone who wasn't looking for pit traps may be more freaked out, both because it is more unexpected and because they are likely less prepared.

A person who is a scarcity specialist focused on gemstones, who is confronted with a sudden abundance of gemstones in their society, may become hyper-focused on that abundance. It's unexpected. It's unusual. It overwhelms their consciousness, capturing all their attention. It causes problems they are not used to dealing with. If they don’t either moderate their scarcity orientation or refocus it, the person can become stuck in an unhealthy mental state.

Some in America society advocate teaching people “an abundance mentality” as a cure-all. What I am talking about is not quite the same thing as having, or not having, an abundance mentality. My concept of orientation is what you are skilled in dealing with, whereas the mentality concept seems more about what you expect and attract. But it does have some overlap in that you will notice and be drawn to what you are orientated towards.

I don’t think that it is absolutely true that more abundance focus is always better. But I do see a seed of truth in the idea that more awareness of abundance can often be helpful: both that a person with a scarcity orientation needs to learn more of an abundance orientation to deal with the abundance that is so common in American society; and also that when a person with an abundance orientation encounters some area of scarcity, it is often the best strategy to move on to an area with more abundance rather than to stay mired in the scarcity.

It’s important to notice the difference between putting attention towards scarcity/abounce because it is a routine part of your life that you are comfortable dealing with vs. putting attention towards it because it is upsetting your expectations and throwing you for a loop. Either way this attention can be a strength or a weakness but how you handle it will depend on what orientation is causing it. It’s important not to jump too quickly to a conclusion about whether someone has a scarcity or abundance orientation based on a single instance of them noticing scarcity or abundance.